Split-Thickness Skin Grafts: An Experimental Study of Factors Related to Ease or Difficulty of Procuring Satisfactory Grafts of Skin from Man and Some Common Laboratory Animals

Abstract

Split-thickness grafts of skin of satisfactory quality were found to be more difficult to obtain from rabbits than from animals of other genera. An explanation for this was sought in the histology of the skins of the various experimental animals. Density of hair was judged to be the factor most critical for ease or difficulty in procuring satisfactory split-thickness grafts of skin, and a cluster of histologic characteristics of skin seemed to have meaning for taxonomic classification. Silver's dermatome was found to be the best instrument for taking grafts from all subjects.